History

A team photo from the early days of the club, before the adoption of the now-famous hooped jerseys.

Celtic Football Club was formally constituted at a meeting in St. Mary's church hall in East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton, Glasgow, by Irish MaristBrother Walfrid[8] on 6 November 1887, with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the East End of Glasgow by raising money for the charity Walfrid had instituted, the Poor Children's Dinner Table.[9] Walfrid's move to establish the club as a means of fund-raising was largely inspired by the example of Hibernian who were formed out of the immigrant Irish population a few years earlier in Edinburgh. Walfrid's own suggestion of the name 'Celtic' (pronounced Seltik), was intended to reflect the club's Irish and Scottish roots, and was adopted at the same meeting. The club has the official nickname, "The Bhoys". However, according to the Celtic press office, the newly established club was known to many as "the bold boys". A postcard from the early 20th century that pictured the team, and read "The Bould Bhoys", is the first known example of the unique spelling. The extra h imitates the spelling system of Gaelic, where the letter b is often accompanied by the letter h.

On 28 May 1888, Celtic played their first official match against Rangers and won 5–2 in what was described as a "friendly encounter".[10] Neil McCallum scored Celtic's first ever goal. The squad that played that day was largely composed of players signed from Hibernian. Celtic's first kit consisted of a white shirt with a green collar, black shorts, and emerald green socks. The original club crest was a simple green cross on a red oval background.

In 1889 Celtic reached the final of the Scottish Cup, this was their first season in the competition, but lost 2–1 in the final. Celtic again reached the final of the Scottish Cup in 1892, but this time were victorious after defeating Queen's Park 5–2 in the final. Several months later the club moved to its new ground, Celtic Park, and in the following season won the Scottish League Championship for the first ever time.[10] In 1895, Celtic set the League record for the highest home score when they beat Dundee 11–0.[11]

Ex-player and captain Jimmy McGrory took over in 1945. Under McGrory, Celtic defeated Arsenal, Manchester United and Hibernian to win the Coronation Cup, a one-off tournament held in May 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Elizabeth II. He also led them to a League and Cup double in 1954. On 19 October 1957, Celtic defeated Rangers a record 7–1 in the final of the Scottish League Cup at Hampden Park in Glasgow, retaining the trophy they had won for only the first time the previous year. The scoreline remains a record win in a British domestic cup final.

Former Celtic captain Jock Stein succeeded McGrory in 1965. Stein guided Celtic to nine straight Scottish League wins from 1966 to 1974, equalling the then world record, and a feat which was not matched again in Scotland until 1997. He won the Scottish Cup with Celtic in his first few months at the club, and then led them to the League title the following season.

Celtic reached the European Cup Final again in 1970, but were beaten 2–1 by Feyenoord at the San Siro in Milan. The club continued to dominate Scottish football in the early 1970s, and their Scottish Championship win in 1974 was their ninth consecutive league title, equalling the joint world record held at the time by MTK Budapest and CSKA Sofia.[13] Celtic enjoyed further domestic success in the 1980s, and in their Centenary season of 1987–88 won a Scottish League Championship and Scottish Cup double.

The club endured a slump in the early 1990s, culminating in the Bank of Scotland informing Celtic on 3 March 1994 that it was calling in the receivers as a result of the club exceeding a £5 million overdraft. However, expatriate businessman Fergus McCann wrested control of the club, and ousted the family dynasties which had controlled Celtic since its foundation. According to media reports, McCann took over the club minutes before it was to be declared bankrupt.[14] McCann reconstituted the club business as a public limited company – Celtic PLC – and oversaw the redevelopment of Celtic Park into a 60,832 all-seater stadium. In 1998, under Dutchman Wim Jansen Celtic won the title again and prevented Rangers from beating Celtic's 9-in-a-row record.[15]

Martin O'Neill, a former European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest, took charge of the club in June 2000.[16] Under his leadership, Celtic won three SPL championships out of five[17] and in his first season in charge, the club also won the domestic treble,[18] making O'Neill only the second Celtic manager to do so after Jock Stein.[19]

Celtic F.C. final league positions from 1891-2015

In 2003, around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to watch the club compete in the UEFA Cup Final in Seville.[20][21] Celtic lost 3–2 to FC Porto after extra time, despite two goals from Henrik Larsson during normal time.[22] The exemplary conduct of the thousands of travelling Celtic supporters received widespread praise from the people of Seville (not one supporter was arrested) and the fans were awarded prestigious Fair Play Awards from both FIFA and UEFA "for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour".[5][6]

Celtic celebrated their 125th anniversary in November 2012, the same week as their UEFA Champions League match against Barcelona.[30] Celtic won 2–1 on the night to complete a memorable week,[31] and eventually qualified from the group stages for the last 16 round.[32] Celtic finished the season with League and Scottish Cup double.[33]

Celtic clinched their third consecutive league title in March 2014,[34] with goalkeeper Fraser Forster setting a new record during the campaign of 1256 minutes without conceding a goal in a league match.[35] At the end of the season, manager Neil Lennon announced his departure from the club after four years in the role.[36]

Norwegian Ronny Deila was appointed manager of Celtic on 6 June 2014.[37][38] He signed a 12-month rolling contract with the club.[39]

Crest and colours

For Celtic's first season they wore a white top with black shorts and black and green hooped socks. This kit featured a green Celtic cross inside a red circle. Next season they changed to a green and white vertically striped top and for the next fourteen years this remained unchanged. In 1903 Celtic adopted their famous green and white hooped tops.[40]

Celtic first laid out a ground in the Parkhead area in 1888.[44] The club moved to a different site in 1892, however, when the rental charge was greatly increased.[45] The new site was developed into an oval shaped stadium, with vast terracing sections.[46] The record attendance of 83,500 was set by an Old Firm derby on 1 January 1938.[45] The terraces were covered and floodlights were installed between 1957 and 1971.[45] The Taylor Report mandated that all major clubs should have an all-seated stadium by August 1994.[47] Celtic was in a bad financial position in the early 1990s and no major work was carried out until Fergus McCann took control of the club in March 1994. He carried out a plan to demolish the old terraces and develop a new stadium in a phased rebuild, which was completed in August 1998. The total cost of the new stadium was £40 million.

Supporters

In 2003 Celtic were estimated to have a fan base of nine million people, including one million in the USA and Canada.[53] There are over 160 Celtic Supporters Clubs in over 20 countries around the world.[54]

In 2003, an estimated 80,000 Celtic supporters, many without match tickets, travelled to Seville in Spain for the UEFA Cup Final,[5][6][7] The club's fans subsequently received awards from UEFA and FIFA for their behaviour at the match.[5][6][20][21]

In October 2013, French football magazine So Foot published a list of whom they considered the 'best' football supporters in the world. Celtic fans were placed third, the only British supporters on the list, with the magazine highlighting their rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone before the start of European ties at Celtic Park.[56]

The Old Firm and sectarianism

Celtic's traditional rivals are Rangers; collectively, the two clubs are known as the Old Firm. The two have dominated Scottish football's history; between them, they have won the Scottish league championship 97 times since its inception in 1890 – all other clubs combined have won 19 championships. The two clubs are also by far the most supported in Scotland, with Celtic having the third highest home attendance in the UK.[57] Celtic have a historic association with the people of Ireland and Scots of Irish descent, who are both mainly Roman Catholic. Traditionally fans of rivals Rangers came from Scottish or Northern Irish Protestant backgrounds and support British Unionism.

The clubs have attracted the support of opposing factions in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Some supporters use songs, chants and banners at matches to abuse or show support for the Protestant or Catholic faiths and proclaim support for Northern Irish paramilitary groups such as the IRA and UVF.[58]

There have been nearly 400 Old Firm matches played as of 2011. The games have been described as having an "atmosphere of hatred, religious tension and intimidation which continues to lead to violence in communities across Scotland."[58] The rivalry has fuelled many assaults and even deaths on Old Firm Derby days. Admissions to hospital emergency rooms have been reported to increase ninefold over normal levels[59] and in the period from 1996 to 2003, eight deaths in Glasgow were directly linked to Old Firm matches, and hundreds of assaults.[59][60]

Both sets of fans fought an on-pitch battle in the aftermath of Celtic's victory in the 1980 Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.[61] There was serious fan disorder during an Old Firm match played in May 1999 at Celtic Park; missiles were thrown by Celtic fans, including one which struck referee Hugh Dallas, who needed medical treatment, and a small number of fans invaded the pitch.[62]

Celtic have taken measures to reduce sectarianism. In 1996, the club launched its Bhoys Against Bigotry campaign, later followed by Youth Against Bigotry to "educate the young on having ... respect for all aspects of the community – all races, all colours, all creeds".[63]

In March 2008, UEFA investigated Celtic fans for alleged sectarian singing at a match against Barcelona.[64] The case was dropped before the end of the month due to a lack of evidence.[65]

Irish republicanism

Some groups of Celtic fans express their support for Irish republicanism and the Irish Republican Army by singing or chanting about them at matches.[66][67] IRA chanting has been described as being offensive, but opinion is divided on whether they are sectarian.[68][69][70][71][72] UEFA head of communications William Gaillard, when talking about the matter in 2006, said that IRA chanting was a nationalist issue and was similar to fans of other clubs, such as Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, who support nationalist movements in their own countries. He also stated that only in Balkan countries, where some fans show support for organisations that had engaged in ethnic cleansing, was the situation different because these organisations were by their nature discriminatory. He said that this did not apply to the IRA.[73]

In 2008 and 2010, there were protests by groups of fans over the team wearing the poppy symbol for Remembrance Day.[74][75] Celtic expressed disapproval of these protests, saying they were damaging to the image of the club and its fans, and pledged to ban those involved.[66][75][76]

In November 2011 UEFA launched an investigation into Celtic about alleged "illicit chanting" involving pro-IRA songs during their Europa League tie against Rennes on 3 November 2011.[77] The hearing took place on 9 December 2011,[78] and the club was fined £12,700 for the offence.[79] Also in November 2011, the Scottish Premier League announced an investigation into Celtic over "pro-IRA" chanting by fans during a match against Hibernian the previous month.[80] The investigation concluded on 5 December 2011, with the SPL stating that "It is not disputed that a small number of Celtic fans engaged in singing and chanting in support of the IRA". However, Celtic were deemed to have taken all "reasonably practicable steps" to try and prevent the behaviour so no action was taken against them. The SPL also stated that repeated condemnation of the chants by manager Neil Lennon as well as chief executive Peter Lawwell had been taken into consideration.[81]

Celtic media

In 2004, Celtic launched their own digital TV channel called Celtic TV, which was available in the UK through Setanta Sports on satellite and cable platforms. Due to the collapse of Setanta in the UK in June 2009, Celtic TV stopped broadcasting, although the club hoped to find a new broadcast partner.[83]

Since 2002, Celtic's Internet TV channel Channel67 (previously known as Celtic Replay) broadcast Celtic's own content worldwide and offered live match coverage to subscribers outside the UK. It also provided three online channels.

In 2011, Celtic TV was relaunched as an online service and replaced Channel 67.[84][85]

Influence on other clubs

Due to Celtic's large following, several clubs outside of Scotland have decided to emulate or have been inspired by Celtic. As the club has a large following, especially in Northern Ireland, several clubs have been founded by local Celtic fans.

One such club was Belfast Celtic, formed in 1891 simply as Celtic. Upon incorporation as a limited company in 1901, however, the club adopted the name "Belfast Celtic", the title "Celtic Football Club Ltd" already being registered by the Glasgow club.[86] Their home from the same year was Celtic Park on Donegall Road in west Belfast, known to the fans as Paradise.[87] It was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew from the Irish League in 1949.

Donegal Celtic, currently playing in the NIFL Championship 1, was established in 1970, with the Celtic part being taken on due to the massive local following for Scotland's Celtic and formerly Belfast Celtic. The club plays in the same stadium Belfast Celtic did, Celtic Park in Belfast.

South African club Bloemfontein Celtic F.C., one the most popular club in the country with a large fan base in the Free State, is also named after Celtic F.C. Founded in 1969 as Mangaung United, in 1984, the then owner Molemela took over the club and changed the name to Bloemfontein Celtic. Based in Bloemfontein, they play in the Premier Soccer League.

Yorkhill Hospital is another charity with whom Celtic are affiliated and in December 2011 the club donated £3000 to it. Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said that; "Celtic has always been much more than a football club and it is important that, at all times we play an important role in the wider community. The club is delighted to have enjoyed such a long and positive connection with Yorkhill Hospital."[92]

Ownership and finances

Private company

Celtic were formed in 1888 and in 1897 the club became a Private Limited Company,[93] this was owned and run by several family "dynasties".[94] These directors had a reputation of being very niggardly and authoritarian, as well as not showing loyalty to their players or managers. In particular they were known for continually selling their top players and not paying their staff enough, they also lacked ambition and many managers had run-ins with them due to this. Three of Celtic's most legendary figures Billy McNeill, Jock Stein and Jimmy McGrory all suffered from this. The board tried to sell McGrory, Celtic's greatest ever goalscorer, to Arsenal in 1928. Knowing how loyal he was to the club, they lured him to London under false pretences and despite his unhappiness at this, and Arsenal's offer of making him the highest paid player in Britain, he refused to move. As well as this, throughout his whole career he was paid £8 a week, £1 less than the rest of the team. As a manager McGrory was also unhappy with the board as they controlled team selection, he considered resigning three years into his management as the club had almost been relegated. Despite scoring 550 goals in 547 games, although not being as successful as a manager, throughout his 35-year playing and managing career with the club they were generally unsuccessful and were always in Rangers' shadow.[95][96]

Stein, who had also played for Celtic, took over the management of the club from McGrory in 1965 and revolutionised the team. He won nine successive league titles and the 1967 European Cup, as well as being runners-up in 1970,[97] with largely the team that McGrory had left behind.[citation needed] By the mid-70s Celtic were declining and Stein was struggling to replace the Lisbon Lions. He had also been seriously injured in a car crash in 1975 which had been said to have affected him badly. Stein rebuilt the squad and achieved a double in 1976–77.[98] However, the next season went poorly and the ability and commitment of many of these players was called into question.[99] The board decided to replace Stein in 1978. The recently appointed chairman, Desmond White, and Stein had a poor relationship and Stein left the club in a bad manner. Celtic's official history was released at that time and Stein was criticised in the book for losing the 1970 European Cup. White and the directors had contributed to the book and Stein was unhappy with this criticism. Stein was offered a place on the Celtic board after he left, however, they wanted him to revive the ticket sales at the club. Stein felt this demeaning and he said was; "a football man, not a ticket salesman". He declined this offer and decided to stay in management.[97][100]

McNeill, the European Cup winning captain under Stein, was brought in to replace him. After five seasons he asked for a contract with a wage rise as he felt he needed greater security; his predecessor had had informal "gentleman's agreements" with the club. During his tenure McNeill had been the most successful manager in Scotland yet it was revealed that he earned less than his counterparts at Aberdeen, Dundee United and Rangers. McNeill also publicly asked the board for more money to invest in the playing squad. The following day the board announced they had unanimously rejected his requests and McNeill moved on to manage Manchester City stating that to remain at Celtic would have been humiliating.[97]

McCann takeover and transition to plc

Throughout the 1960s and 70s Celtic had been one of the strongest clubs in Europe. However, the directors failed to accompany the wave of economic development facing football in the 1980s. In 1989, the club's annual budget was £6.4 million, about a third as much as Barcelona, with a debt of around 40% and on-field success deteriorating.[101] In the early 1990s the situation began to worsen, in 1993 fans began organising pressure groups to protest against the board, one of the most prominent being "Celts for Change". They strongly supported a takeover bid fronted by Fergus McCann and Brian Dempsey. Football writer Jim Traynor likened McCann's attempt to buy the club from the board as being like "good against evil".[102]

On 4 March 1994, McCann bought Celtic for £9 million.[103] When he bought the club it was reported to be within 24 hours of entering receivership due to a £5 million overdraft.[94][104] He turned Celtic into a public limited company through a share issue which raised over £14 million, the most successful share issue in British football history.[94][105] He also oversaw the building of a new stadium, the 60,000 seater Celtic Park, which cost £40 million and at the time was Britain's largest capacity stadium.[94][106][107] This allowed Celtic to progress as a club because over £20 million was being raised each year from season ticket sales.[94]

McCann had maintained from the outset that he would only be at Celtic for five years and in September 1999 he officially announced that his 50.3% stake in Celtic was for sale. McCann had always wanted the ownership of Celtic to be spread as widely as possible and gave first preference to existing shareholders and season-ticket holders. This was to stop a new consortium taking over the club.[108] 14.4 million shares were sold by McCann at a value of 280 pence each. McCann made £40 million out of this, meaning he left Celtic with a £31 million profit. During his tenure, turnover at Celtic rose by 385% to £33.8m and operating profits rose from £282,000 to £6.7m.[107] McCann was often criticised during his time at Celtic and many people disagreed with him over building a stadium which they thought Celtic couldn't fill, not investing enough in the squad and being overly focused on finance. However, McCann was responsible for the financial recovery of the club and for providing a very good platform for it to build on. After he left Celtic, the club were able to invest in players and achieved much success such as winning The Treble in 2000–01 and reaching the 2003 UEFA Cup Final.[94][107]

After McCann's exit, Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond was left as the majority shareholder. He purchased 2.8 million of McCann's shares to increase his stake in the club from 13% to 20%.[109]

In 2005, Celtic issued a share offer designed to raise £15 million for the club, 50 million new shares were made available priced at 30p each. It was also revealed that majority sharholder Desmond would buy around £10 million worth of the shares. £10 million of the money raised was for building a new state-of-the-art training facility and youth academy, expanding the club's global scouting network and investing in coaching and player development programmes. The rest of the money was to be used to reduce debt. Building a youth academy was important for Celtic to surpass both Hearts and Rangers who had superior youth facilities at the time.[110] The share issue was a success and Celtic had more applicants than shares available,[111] Celtic's new Lennoxtown training centre was opened in October 2007.[112]

Celtic's financial results for 2011 showed that the club's debt had been reduced from £5.5 million to £500,000 and that a pre-tax profit of £100,000 had been achieved, compared with a loss of over £2 million the previous year. Turnover also decreased by 15% from £63 million to £52 million.[115]

In May 2012, Celtic were rated 37th in Brand Finance's annual valuation of the world's biggest football clubs. Celtic's brand was valued at $64 million (£40.7 million), $15 million more than the previous year. It was the first time a Scottish club had been ranked in the top 50. Matt Hannagan, Sports Brand Valuation Analyst at Brand Finance, said that Celtic were constrained by the amount of money they got from the SPL and that if they were in the Premiership then, due to their large fan base, they could be in the top 10 clubs in the world.[116][117] Later that month David Low, the financial consultant who advised Fergus McCann on his takeover of Celtic in 1994, said that Celtic's 'enterprise value' (how much it would cost to buy the club) was £52 million.[118]

UK record for an unbeaten run in professional football: 62 games (49 won, 13 drawn), from 13 November 1915 until 21 April 1917 – a total of 17 months and four days in all (they lost at home to Kilmarnock on the penultimate day of the season)[127][128]

SPL record for an unbeaten run of home matches (77), from 2001 to 2004[129][130]

14 consecutive League Cup final appearances, from season 1964/65 to 1977/78 inclusive,[131] a world record for successive appearances in the final of a major football competition[132]

World record for total number of goals scored in a season (competitive games only): 196 (season 1966–67)[133]

Most goals scored in one Scottish top-flight league match by one player: 8 goals by Jimmy McGrory against Dunfermline in 9–0 win on 14 January 1928